Upon reflection of Term 3, it is important to realise that boys have tackled various challenges that have arisen throughout the term as they continue their development into young men. Although there may be ups and downs, successes and failures, their time in Senior School is ultimately a learning experience. Each day and each obstacle they face helps to shape the adults they will become. As their Team Leader I am incredibly proud, each day, to have a hand in shaping these outstanding young men. There are countless examples of the boys demonstrating the Knox core values on a daily basis. Here are just a few that I have observed over Term 3:

1.        Boys carrying each other’s gear while hiking on camp to lighten the load for one of their peers.

2.        Spending Mentor time picking up rubbish around the locker area to ensure the Year 8 shared space is looked after.

3.        Cheering each other on at the CAS Track and Field.

4.        Boys alerting me to their friends who need looking after.

With the Year 12 Valedictory Ceremony earlier this week, I couldn’t help but think what our boys will be like at the end of their time at Knox. If this term is anything to go by, I am sure that they will make us very proud. 

The incoming Mentor Representatives for 2019 – 2020 have been elected and once again, it is another great group of boys. It is an honour for these boys to be chosen by their peers and I am confident that they will rise to the challenge of being their Year Group Leaders. Mr Openshaw and myself are looking forward to working with them over the coming months. 

We hope that you and your families have a restful and well-deserved break. It is important that the boys have a chance to rest their minds and bodies. I encourage the boys to have some time away from their screens so that they can reconnect and refresh.

Clare Yuan

We have now reached the end of Term 3-to the joy of all students! It has been a challenging term with numerous assessments due, as well as a whole week at camp. The boys are to be commended on how they've managed to keep up with their school work and their co-curricular commitments despite all the challenges over the winter months. 

Earlier this week the School bid farewell to the Year 12 students. I wish these gentlemen a fond farewell and good luck in their HSC examinations.

Wishing Luke Berlee, Malachi Chen, Ethan Florio-Yen, Jude Glendining, Yiming Guo, Paul Jo, Jake Lee, Jeremi Lee, Angus Wines and Roy Zhou a safe and successful trip to Italy as they compete in the International daVinci Decathlon.

Thank you for the school shoes that were donated this week to help the children who live in the slums of Manila. A pair of shoes means a child can attend school and have hope of a better future. Please keep your donation of any school shoes in good condition and that your son has outgrown coming to Room 19, so we can help these children.

Finally, I would like to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday and I look forward to seeing all the boys in their Cadet uniform in Term 4, which will also be our last term in the Junior Academy. 

Have a lovely weekend everyone.

Crystel Hodgson, Tel: 9119 0881

Friday 27 September  

Term 3 Concludes

Monday 30 September  

Final Day for Year 8 Cadet Uniform Fitting

Tuesday 15 October

Term 4 Commences

Tuesday 5 November 

Duke of Edinburgh Information Evening 

Thursday 14 to Friday 22 November 

Yearly Examinations

Thank you to those who have notified us of amendments to School Reports. The Term 3 School Reports have been updated and will be refreshed by midnight tonight. Your son’s report will then be available through Parent Lounge. Please be aware, whilst your son’s marks may not have changed, other measures such as his Quartile or Average may have changed as these are measures relative to the cohort.

John Nelson

On a number of occasions this term we have addressed students during Year Meeting about the importance of wearing the correct uniform and wearing it well. Doing so shows respect for our School, its traditions and values. Members of our community often judge students and the School by the general standard of each student’s uniform and appearance so it is important that our students maintain the required standards while travelling to and from school, not just during the school day.

The boys have responded positively to these discussions and to the monitoring systems put in place at the school gates. We have been pleased to witness a significant improvement in the number of students wearing with pride their boaters and blazers to and from school. To support a continuation of this positive trend, we will be introducing consequences for those students who are not able to comply with the School’s uniform code on a regular basis. Initially students will receive a warning when they do not have the correct uniform. Should a student arrive at school without the correct uniform on a third occasion, parents will be notified and the student will need to participate in an after school reflection. Additional reflection sessions will be scheduled should there be a fourth or fifth occasion.

In conjunction with our focus on uniform, it is timely to remind students that only school approved bags should be brought on campus.

Craig Milligan

The inaugural OneWorld Robotics Competition category for 2019 will be 'Smart Cities'. A smart city is a city that is better able to cope with the demands of an increasingly over-populated, more globalised world. A smart city will be a city that is highly data-driven, demanding that world leaders understand technology such as the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence, and the myriad of digital technologies now available.

To develop cities in order to make them 'smart' also entails making them more 'inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable'. This will also involve considerations such as the need for higher data transfer speeds, greater storage capacities, better sensors, and faster vehicle-to-vehicle infrastructure exchanges as we contend with modern technologies to alleviate the changing situation. There will also be relevant legal, social, and ethical implications as a result, including issues such as environmental impact, regulating traffic and accidents, and consequent privacy and cyber security risks. In the OneWorld Robotics Competition, students will have to consider all of these challenges through their application of robotics.

The OneWorld Robotics Competition challenges students from all over the globe to apply STEAM-related skills through robotics to solve real-world problems. Area Competitions will be held over two days, where teams compete in technical challenges as well as present legal, social, and ethical solutions to AV application in Smart Cities. The Global Competition will involve the top three teams from all Area Competitions competing over five days. Students will have their projects assessed by a panel of industry experts. As the students take on the timely category of 'Smart Cities' they will contemplate topics such as the benefit of Autonomous Vehicles in alleviating the problems associated with transport congestion and over-population, while honing their critical thinking skills.

Further information about the OneWorld Robotics Competition may be found here. 

Contemporary research and trend analysis highlight the importance of young people developing enterprise and entrepreneurial skills in order to rise to the challenges of our rapidly changing world. As such, Knox is committed to preparing our boys to thrive as global citizens and aims to extend our boy’s capacity to engage in a world that is being shaped by automation and emerging technologies.

Our Year 10 signature program, Agent of Change, serves to meet the needs of our boys through a project-based experience that both leverages from authentic partnerships and exposes students to design thinking.

We are looking to engage parents, carers, members of our broader school community and beyond as potential ‘clients’ or industry mentors in this exciting educational experience.

 
Program Logistics:

 ·         The Agent of Change program will occur at Knox on 26-27 November.

 ·         Each Year 10 student will work collaboratively to build a prototype, design a product, and/or make a pitch to an external client.

 ·         External ‘clients’ will provide an authentic problem from their life or job that a student could provide/pitch a solution to.

We are specifically interested in projects that would engage students in art, graphic or web design, data analytics, programming, urban spaces, research, and marketing/advertising. We also invite you to join us for our Meet a Change Agent speaker series at lunch time next term.

Please contact Mr Jake Plaskett (Director of Studies at the Knox Middle Academy) if you would like to be a part of this signature program or if you have specific questions about what types of projects might be suitable.

Melba Studios take a range of formal group photos such as Houses, music groups, co-curricular groups and sports teams. To order:

• Go to the Melba Studios website. 
• Click on ‘School Orders’
• Enter the password woodville
• Choose the album you wish to view (from 2013-2019) and then click on the gallery you would like to look at: eg sports, music, houses etc
• Order the photos you require

For Portraits

• Go to the Melba Studios website.
• Click on ‘School Orders’
• Enter the password knox

You will need to know your son's name and his student ID number to view his portrait and you can order from 2018 and 2019. If you require any assistance, please contact Melba Studios on (02) 9438 4566

A reminder that in Term 4 there is a changeover from winter to summer uniform. Please check your child’s uniform still fits and if you require new items, these are all available at the Uniform Shop or can be ordered via Flexischools. This also applies to summer sport uniform.

If you require any uniform prior to the start of Term 4, the opening times of the Uniform Shop are as follows:

• Monday 30 September- 9.30am-5pm (Closed 12.30-1pm)

• Friday 11 October -9.30am-5pm (Closed 12.30-1pm)

• Saturday 12 October -9am-12noon 

• Monday 14 October -9.30am-5pm (Closed 12.30-1pm)

• Tuesday 15 October – 8am-5.30pm

Monday 30 September is the final day for Year 8 Cadet uniform fitting. All login details to the PTO booking system to make an appointment were emailed at the start of the term. If you have any difficulties, please contact Julie Blackburn or call her on 9487 0191.

Students from Year 8, 9 and 11 visited the exhibition space at Clayton Utz Law Firm this week as part of the Young Curators program. Reg Mombassa, the artist behind the popular Mambo designs, guided students through an exhibition of his striking and colourful works. The architecture of this impressive building was almost as stunning as Mombassa’s drawings and paintings!

On Saturday the Knox Robotics team travelled to Barker College who hosted the 2019 VEX NSW State Robotics competition. The team ended up placing 3rd overall out of 36 teams that competed on the day. The boys competed against schools that entered multiple teams. James Wainwright’s (Year 11 Robotics Captain) leadership was outstanding.

After the rankings, we formed an alliance with a Pymble Ladies' College team and were knocked out in the Semi-finals. We just missed out on qualifying for the National competition. This is an exceptional effort from the boys in our first rookie year. 

The Robotics club meets on Monday and Wednesday afternoons in MK31, if you are interested in joining the team.

Congratulations to Lachlan Chiang and Victor Zhao who were part of the team.

Well done boys!

Last Friday I was lucky enough to attend the Boarders' Chapel Service and Dinner. It was great to see the boarders enjoying some quality time with their families and taking the time to farewell the Year 12 boarders.

Bobby Hui (Year 7), Ethan Huang, Archie Dean, Jasper Derwent, Tony Song, Alex Koshy and Mrs Norman

Joe Roberts, Ernest Jones (Year 7), Alastair Ramsay, Kaspar Mole (Year7), Mitch McKinstry and Harry Cluff (Year 7)

Congratulations to the newly elected Mentor Representatives for 2019/2020.

Mentor Name          Mentor Representative           Mentor Name             Mentor Representative

Dr Ali                       Elias Nathan Niazi                      Mr Beilharz                    Lewis Jones

Ms Coetzee               Rhys Edwards                           Ms Cole                         William Asscher

Mr Costaganna          Alec Germanos                         Mr Felton                       Oscar J Thomas

Mr Gazzard               Jack Farrall                              Ms Haselden                   William Solomons

Mr Haselden              Angus Wines                           Mr Kantek                       Campbell Deng

Mr Kinnaird               Judah Limantono                     Ms Minkley                      Alastair Ramsay

Mr Newman               Akshey Kant                           Mr Nolan                         James Hannon

Mr Smith                   Noah Samuel                          Mr Walker                       Beau Morrison

Mr Whiley                  Aria Nayer                              Ms Wilmshurst                Ollie Kaan

Ms Zaidi                    Ethan Luong

This week the boys participated in a locker clean up session during their mentor periods. It was great to see the boys sorting all the items in their lockers and hearing them scream when finding a cupcake wrapper or leftover lunches in their lockers. I'm sure a few of them will endeavour to keep their locker clean throughout the term moving forward.